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Farewell My Concubine: A Performance by the Shanghai Peking Opera Company

Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - 7:00pm

Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall

Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - 7:00pm

The Shanghai Peking Opera presents “Farewell My Concubine,” a classic tale of love and suicide in a dramatic one-hour performance, starring Shi Yihong, the “first lady of Chinese opera,” and Shang Changrong, one of China’s most celebrated operatic performers. Considered one of the most famous performances of the Shanghai Peking Opera Company, this production will transform the venue, allowing the audience to feel the wind of the sword and witness the tragedy and sacrifice in unforgettable intimacy.

“Farewell My Concubine” tells the story of Xiang Yu, the self-styled “Hegemon-King of Western Chu,” who battled for the unification of China with Liu Bang, the eventual founder of the Han Dynasty. As Xiang Yu is surrounded by Liu Bang’s forces and on the verge of defeat, he calls forth his horse and begs it to run away for its own safety. When the horse refuses, Xiang Yu calls for the company of his favorite concubine, Consort Yu. Realizing the dire situation that has befallen them, she begs to die alongside her master, but he refuses this wish. Later, she commits suicide with Xiang Yu’s sword.

This production of “Farewell My Concubine” is only being performed in two locations in the United States: Princeton University and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Through the end of September, a special exhibit of the Peking Opera will be on display in the Princeton University East Asian Studies Library.

Sponsored by the Paul and Marcia Wythes Center on Contemporary China, the Chinese Linguistics Project, the East Asian Studies Program, the Lewis Center for the Arts, the Music Department, and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.

Farewell My Concubine is a co-production of the Shanghai Peking Opera Company and Culture Investment Holdings. It is made possible in part by Shanghai HYM Culture & Media Company.